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Box 634 • Beverly Hills, CA 90213
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•
March 18-25 - Bonaire• June 10-17 - Isla Mujeres
(early in the Whale Shark Season)• July 7-19 -
Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that
Yap has to offer)[ LIMITED
TO 12 DIVERS - 4 SPOTS LEFT ]• July 21-August
2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as
above)[ LIMITED
TO 12 DIVERS - 7 SPOTS LEFT ]• September 1-6
- Great White Sharks of Guadalupe on the Nautilus Belle
Amie• Nov. 20 - Dec. 16 (dates can
be trimmed) - Ultimate Indonesia (A week at Murex in
Manado, 10 days in Raja Ampat on the Aggressor,
4
days in the Lembeh Straits)GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE:
www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Upcoming local dives:

• December 14 - Night/squid
dive (FREE!!!! - Vets Park)

To sign up for any of these dives,
either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————'Tis the season . . .
CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPPING
- Well, it's not dive-related but if you're looking for a Christmas
tree, I highly recommend Home Depot on Jefferson in Playa del
Rey. Very large selection, fresh-cut trees, decent prices, and
well-organized so it doesn't take too long to select the perfect
tree and then check out. They've even got a machine that wraps the
tree in plastic netting making it much easier to transport home on
top of your car. I don't get a kickback but if you're looking, it's
a good place to go. (And I'd assume other Home Depots around the
city are set up similarly.)
ANOTHER FATATLITY OVER THE
WEEKEND - I'm sad to report that we had another dive
fatality over the weekend, which brings us to about five for the
year so far (still have three weeks to go). This appears to have
been a diver making his fourth dive during certification, he was
with an instructor, but it seems that water conditions changed while
underwater (strong current came up), and he panicked and bolted.
Despite what sounds like gallant and extended efforts on the part of
all responders (boat, Baywatch, chamber), he was not able to be
revived. But this also underscores, assuming we have all the facts
correct, something very important about diving: Panic kills. We used
to run an ad at the beginning of the summer season that said,
"There's no more important piece of equipment you can take with
you on a dive than your brain." And what that means is that you
need to recognize that, when we're underwater, we're in an alien and
hostile environment (albeit serene and beautiful when everything's
going right) but if you don't have your brain engaged in what you're
doing, things can quickly spiral out of control. Obviously, the most
serious problem would be a loss of air supply so make sure you're
either carrying an independent air source &/or that you're close
enough to your buddy that you can share air. Also remember that
panic is not something that suddenly happens without warning (although
it appears to) but is part of a step-by-step process that begins
with anxiety and builds. So it's really important to recognize
within yourself when that anxiety starts setting in and either take
steps to alleviate it if you can, or abort the dive altogether if
you can't. As we've said for years, you never get hurt on a dive you
don't make. And there's no sin in aborting a dive for reasons that
only have to make sense to you.
RAISING BLACK SEA BASS
- There was a nice article in today's L.A. Times about
raising juvy Black Sea Bass (aka Giant Sea bass) at the Aquarium of
the Pacific. The juvy, who's about the size of your thumbnail, is in
a behind-the-scenes tank right now. I see him (??) regularly as he
lives right by one of our presentation areas and it's really amazing
to see how big/small he is after only 59 days. (I also
"saw" him as a larvae.) Here are two links so you can find
out more about him. First is a reprint of the article: http://www.pressreader.com/usa/los-angeles-times/20161204/281852938189286.
But second is even better as it's the L.A. Times video
website where you'll see a short video showing the actual fish.
You'll also need to un-mute the audio: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/92039364-132.html.
NIGHT DIVE ANYONE??
- We'll try (weather-permitting of course) for our final night dive
of 2016 on Wednesday, December 14, at Vets Park. We might get lucky
and get some squid action but you never know. I haven't heard of
anything yet but this is about the time the squid start returning
and laying eggs. It's a 1-tank dive, it's FREE (so you can't beat
the price - but you do have to bring quarters for parking), and
night dives at Vets are always interesting. If you want to join us,
make sure I've got your name on our list and we'll hope to have a
good dive on the 14th.
VARYING WATER TEMPS
- When people ask, "What's the water temp?" it's sometimes
hard to give a coherent answer. Just from the people I've talked to
who were out this weekend, water temps around here were either (1)
60º, (2) 55º, or (3) 48º. What's really ironic is that the distance
from #1 to #3 is only a little over 10 miles. I remember a dive from
some years ago on the Star of Scotland in Santa Monica Bay
and on my first dive I recorded 48º. (I was very thankful I was in
a drysuit.) But on the second dive only about 90 minutes later, I
thought it felt colder than the first and was rather shocked to see
that my gauge now read 44º (which is also the coldest water I've
ever been diving in). But the point is that you can get some radical
temp changes within a relatively short period of time or over a
relatively short distance. I remember another dive one summer at
Vets Park where it was a balmy 72º up in the shallows and then when
you went into the Canyon, it dropped to a bone-chilling 52º.
LAKE TAHOE WATER CLARITY
- My friend Ron Roth sent me this video link about how clear the
water in Lake Tahoe is. You might enjoy it as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7oTRQ_lKk4&sns=em.

And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and
let's go diving soon!!!